Mobilizing the Law for Men: How Male Rape Prosecutions Reproduce Masculinity

• In Event: 260 - Section on Sex and Gender Paper Session. Sexual Assault and the State

Abstract

Legal recognition of sexual assault increased significantly as a result of the anti-rape social movement. Yet while many successes and pitfalls have been documented, we still know very little about how adult male sexual victims are dealt with in the criminal justice system. Although men’s reported experiences of sexual assault often parallel those of women, their gender renders a unique spin on the social construction of their sexual trauma. Adult male bodies are assumed to be hard, strong, and impenetrable – quite the opposite of a sexual victim. This paper examines how adult men are constructed as sexual victims in the charging phase of the criminal justice process. Data include: a) archival documents from 67 criminal cases of male sexual victimization; and b) in-depth interviews with 75 prosecutors and defense attorneys who have worked on such cases. Findings indicate that cases of adult male sexual victimization are understood as especially egregious because the paradox of this victim challenges gendered understandings of how the world works. Moreover, masculine sexual vulnerability is crystallized in the legal process through an interaction between the structural language and cultural implementation. Gendered understandings of sexual consent effect prosecutors’ decision-making logics when they file criminal charges. This empirical case will ultimately reveal how men and their bodies are situated in relation to the state, leading to insights about the complex intersection between masculinity, citizenship, and law.

Author

• Jamie L Small, University of Michigan